Blankingship & Keith Blog

If you or your son or daughter have been a victim of fraternity or sorority hazing, you are probably overwhelmed by the possible actions you could take. After seeking medical attention, you may also notify the police and college administration about the incident. Criminal and educational sanctions are not the only way you can receive justice, however: your son or daughter may also be able to recover financially from the people who hurt them and those who allowed violent hazing to occur at your college.

Airbnb is an iconic and popular outgrowth of the gig economy, allowing individuals to travel less expensively by staying in the homes of individuals who voluntarily rent out their rooms or entire homes on a temporary basis. Although Airbnb holds its services out as a safe substitute for conventional hotels, what are your options if something goes wrong?

In an article published by AAA, it discussed a December 2016 report by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety’s that found “that drivers missing 2-3 hours of sleep in a 24-hour period more than quadrupled their risk of a crash compared to drivers getting the recommended seven hours of sleep. This is the same crash risk the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration associates with driving over the legal limit for alcohol.”

Manufacturers that are forced to settle claims brought by those injured or killed by their defective products have a strong incentive to keep these settlements secret. They will typically demand that the injured plaintiff or her lawyers execute a “Confidentiality Agreement” as a condition of settlement. These agreements forbid disclosure of the settlement and prevent consumers from learning about potentially deadly defects in the products. Product safety lawyers have long known that onerous confidentiality agreements are a serious impediment to consumer safety.

A May 20, 2016 article in The Huffington Post discussed why some auto safety organizations are trying to influence the media to move away from using the term “car accident” and instead use the term “car crash” or “car wreck.” The reasoning is the term “accident” implies that there is no one at fault, that the whole incident was a mistake with no one to blame. “Crash” or “wreck” more fully describes what actually happened by implying fault–that is one reason we call it a Police Crash Report.

After more than a six-month investigation, the Knoxville Tennessee Police Department said the driver of a Knox County school bus that crashed into another bus, killing two students and a teacher’s aide, was distracted due to sending and receiving text messages.

We have represented dozens, if not hundreds of people with traumatic brain injuries, and count them as our friends, as well as our clients. Long after the initial head injury, our clients are so often plagued with thinking problems--memory, attention, processing speed and cognitive fatigue after a few hours of concentrated activity.

White House Joins the Call for Increased Awareness of Traumatic Brain Injuries:

Many of our clients have suffered traumatic brain injuries in motor vehicle collisions. They may have no obvious physical injuries, so it can be difficult for them to explain to friends and family that they have actually suffered an injury, though an “invisible” one.